A plumbing emergency can hit anyone, at any time. An unexpected plumbing problem can be nerve-wracking to deal with, especially if it’s causing damage to other areas of your home. How do you know if you need to call an emergency plumber? Here are some tips on when to make the call.
Is the plumbing emergency life threatening?
If someone’s life is endangered due to a plumbing emergency, then it is crucial for a plumber and possibly emergency services to be contacted. Some plumbing instances when a life may be threatened include:a child’s finger gets stuck in the bath or a plumbing waste orifice a gas leak where gas can be smelt inside the house health devices that require running water services that may need to be turned off due to a leak. If a plumbing emergency is not life threatening, but can cause a lot of damage and harm to a property, it may not require an emergency plumber in the following circumstances.
Leaking water pipe
A leaking water pipe can be considered an emergency to most home owners because running water can cause a lot of damage to a house. But if the water is turned off at the main, this can stop the flow of water and a plumber can be called to fix it as soon as conveniently possible. Should the situation happen at night or out of working hours, turning the water main off can fix the problem and save an out of hours call out fee. If the water main doesn’t turn off, then this would be considered an emergency. In this case, your local water supplier would need to be called to fix the water main. An emergency plumber can be called to try and find an alternative way of stopping the flow of water. They might freeze the water line and add a temporary stop valve, or they can fix the leak under pressure. Your emergency plumber should be able to offer a temporary solution while the water main gets fixed or replaced by the local council or water supplier.
Leaking gas pipe
A leaking gas pipe is definitely an emergency situation and does require an emergency plumber to investigate and fix. The gas main should be switched off to stop the leak of gas into your home, but a leaking gas pipe should be fixed as soon as possible.No cold or hot water
For some people, no hot water could be deemed a disaster, especially during the winter months. But this is not truly an emergency. An emergency plumber may be called, but they may not be able to do anything if the hot water unit is on its way out. If there is no cold water into the house, check that the tap at the water main is turned on. If it is, check if there is water coming from each tap in the house. If the water is only isolated from one tap, it may be the tap washers that need to be replaced. Use an alternative tap and get a plumber to replace the washers when convenient.
Blocked toilet or overflowing sewer
If your toilet is blocked and overflowing out of the bowl, this definitely requires an emergency plumber. A plunger won’t fix this plumbing issue. A plumber with a electric eel machine will need to be used to unblock the sewer line. If you’re in doubt about the nature of a plumbing problem, call your emergency plumber. The team at Gladesville Plumbing is only too happy to give advice on the phone about what can be done to help with an issue until they can come out and fix it completely. Call Gladesville Plumbing for all your emergency plumbing needs on 0413 402 599.
